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Prince Harry observed a moment’s silence for Fidel Castro as he attended a drinks reception in the Caribbean island of St Vincent.

The Prince was put in the potentially awkward position on Saturday night by the Governor General of St Vincent, Sir Frederick Ballantyne, who is the Queen’s representative in the Commonwealth realm.

Sir Frederick asked guests at the reception, jointly hosted by himself and the country’s Prime Minister, to observe a moment’s silence on the day the Communist dictator died aged 90.

Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, said: “Castro was a good friend of the island.”

He said Castro had invested in St Vincent, which had been a trading partner of Cuba for decades.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace declined to comment.

The Prince was attending the reception as the guest of honour, and also presented Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards to young people who had achieved them.

In 2008, when Castro decided to stand down as president, Mr Gonsalves paid tribute to him by saying: “Cuba has made tremendous progress in the fields of agriculture, education and health … living standards.

"In the United Nations Human Development Index it is ranked in the top 50.”

Fidel Castro was a defining figure of the 20th century

In his address, Cuban President Raul Castro said his brother died at 10.29pm on Friday and would be cremated on Saturday before a period of national mourning is observed.

He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: "Toward victory, always!"